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What Is A Family For?

One day our family was sitting around talking about what really makes a family. Soon our conversation turned to a question. What is a family for? This question led to many other questions like: What do people really want out of their family relationships? What makes a family happy? Who chooses happiness in the family? What destroys families? ETC.

The questions and discussion went on and on. I was so happy to hear my children say things like, “Well, if you just listen to mom and dad and do what they say then you will be happy in your family.” The young ones really understood the purpose of a mom and dad and that they needed to trust their parents to guide them along the path to happiness.

Our family does a lot of teaching about good parenting and strong family relationships around the world so my children are used to analyzing our family relationships and when they are going well, and when they aren’t. It’s so great to be working on a mission as a family.

Well, actually all families are on a mission. The mission is to develop eternal relationships and learn self-government so that we are ready to live in God’s presence. These two things are some of the hardest things we could possibly do, but will ultimately be the most important. This life is really all about relationships and self-government.

From that Peck family discussion I wrote a family song called, What is a Family? And then my good friend, Lawrence Gee, composed music to go with it. Here is a link to a music video of the song. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it gives your family a great tool to start a discussion about what makes your family great and what you can do to improve your relationships.

Bruce, Depends how far away you live. How old are your children? Keep working at it. It takes time and consistency, but then your children will feel emotionally safe and recognize that you are a wise person and worth listening too. I wrote a book. It could help you. It’s called Parenting A House United. In it we talk about having a vision of what we are doing as a family and how to set up a structure that makes everyone happy and improves communication. Right now, that is the best thing I can offer to help.

Brian, I have heard that is a good class, but never taken it. Thanks for the review. Constantly keeping the parenting goggles clear is important for happiness and success. Thanks for sharing!